Mr Hyde's Defense
by Abigail Clairewaters
Summary: An alternate ending to Stevenson's story. Utterson arrived just in time to stop Hyde from committing suicide via cyanide poisoning. After three in court, Hyde now awaits his sentence. Writer's Craft Assignment from Gr. 12


An alternate ending to the original story by Mr. Stevenson:

Utterson arrived just in time to stop Hyde from committing suicide via cyanide poisoning. Thinking Hyde had finally murdered Jekyll - and not realizing the truth of Jekyll's disappearance, Utterson arrested Hyde and had him taken into custody.

After three days in court, Hyde and the entire court awaits his final sentence...

Note: This was a small project of mine from my grade twelve writer's craft course. I figured I might as well publish this on here, before I lose my memory stick again. Xp

Disclaimer: Obviously Mr. Hyde is Stevenson. But everything else is mine :].

Enjoy!

* * *

Mr. Hyde's Defense

The furor in the courtroom died as the jury solemnly filed back in.

"Be standing in court!" cried the bailiff. The crowded room rose in a body as the judge ascended the bench. There was a pause as he adjusted his robes and turned to face the jury.

"Gentlemen of the jury, have you reached a verdict?"

The foreman rose, hesitant but equally stern of face.

"We have milord."

The judge turned to Hyde.

"The prisoner will rise and face the jury."

With infinite and insolent slowness, Hyde complied.

"With regard to the charges brought against the prisoner, Edward Hyde, how do you find?" The judge's voice betrayed no emotion.

"We find him guilty as charged milord."

Hyde chuckled. A growling murmur rose from the crowd, quelled by another stern look from the judge.

"Thank you gentlemen." The judge turned once more to face Hyde, and addressed him – this time with that severity of tone that told the onlookers that no mercy could be expected. "Edward Hyde, you have been tried and found guilty of murder and numerous other crimes by a jury of your peers. Before this court passes sentence upon you, is there anything you wish to say?"

A deathly hush fell. Before the hateful gaze of those thronging the room, a smirking sneer crept across the twisted visage of the criminal, as faced his accusers – and spoke.

"Your Honor, bailiff, lawyers of both the crown and the defense, members of the jury – ladies and gentlemen. I thank you for allowing me to speak before you today." A sinister grin came upon his face before a small malicious laugh echoed from his open mouth. "Ooo, you make me sick, sick with absolute delirium – delirium so immense that it makes me warm on the inside."

Hyde paused and glanced around the room, a smile – like the one a wolf would bear right when it was about to kill its prey – laid plastered on his distorted face. "You are all fools – you who call yourself a great society; you who have created a system poorly named justice – all of you are fools; insignificant, incompetent, idiotic fools."

"Better than you any day, you murderous bastard!" cried a member of the crowd, causing another wave of shouts to emerge.

"Order! ORDER!" yelled the judge, but in vain – his voice was drowned by the angry yells of the people. It seemed as if the court would once again have another riot until, there was a crackle of insanity that escaped from Hyde's mouth.

"Oh this is most amusing. Do you not see what you are doing? what emotions are being worn by you – the people of this courtroom – on your sleeves? All that anger, that rage, that hatred – all of that just bubbling under the surface. Wouldn't it be relieving – exhilarating if you could just let that all go, to feed it, to let it fester – let it grow! For that is exactly what all of you want to do, I can see it those glares filled with loathing – with murderous intent! All the members of this chamber; you want to murder me, to have me hanged, to have me buried alive, to have me drawn and quartered; to beat me and trample me until my brain seeps out of my smashed-in skull, my eyes are flattened, all my bones crushed into powder, all my inners slipping out; and to squeeze out all the blood in my body – like the juice of grapes to make wine – and paint the entire courtroom with –"

"That is enough Edward Hyde!" yelled the judge in absolute disgust, "I hereby sent –"

"I AM NOT DONE!"roared the fiend with such ferocity that it seemed he would have broken his chains and leapt at the judge. Not a sound was made; it was as if the entire room now held its breath.

"You call yourselves one of the strongest nations of this world, but you are not. You are cowards, ignorant and cowardly little people who not even dare see what really lies inside – what really is found within the depths of the human soul." A slow sneer formed on Hyde's face. "A person made of complete good. That is what one of your most highly regarded men tried to create; the 'perfect human'. The twisted vision your society created of the perfect human. He did succeed – and you know what he created? Me. I am the perfect human – and I came from a man who – in the eyes of society was one of the most virtuous and highly respectable. And that man I came from – the man I devoured was none other than Dr. Henry Jekyll."

"That is absolute nonsense!" came a cry.

"Blasphemy! Blasphemy I tell you!" hollered another. An angry murmur boiled from within the crowd. Once again the judge silenced the room with his loud, booming voice. He then turned the prisoner and looked upon him so sternly that the icy glare could have froze an immense fire.

"I hereby sentence you to be hanged for the sins of your crimes. Officers, will you please take the prisoner away."

Hyde was taken by his arms to the exit of the courtroom. A small smile lingered on his face as he went. Right before he passed through the doorway, the fiend turned his head.

"For all the people in this room know this, death will not stop me from being alive. You can not hide from me, your children can not be save from me; the people who you love can not stray away from me. No person left uncorrupted, no child left untainted. The death that will come will only be one of many – for I am the darkness that lurks in every heart, I am the evil that taints every soul. And you – everyone of you pathetic cowardly souls will know that evil will always be there."

* * *

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have reached the end of this portion of fanfiction. Please leave a review or helpful comment when leaving the theater. Thank you for reading.

Good Day and Good Night.

~ _Abigail C._


End file.
